Thursday, July 16

St. Joseph's, Wilmette - Interior Photos

D Mac over at Creative Minority Report was kind enough to send some stunning interior photos of this beautiful church, which I posted on some weeks back. It has one of my favorite nave-and-side-aisle arrangements, and is also distinguished by its distinctive stained glass. "It's so...purple," as a friend who visited the church with me commented, succinctly.

Last time I wrote about it, Daniel Mitsui was kind enough to point out the church's rather surprising backstory, which involves Nazi spies and a real-estate dabbling priest who also doubled as the mayor of Wilmette for three terms in office. Really:

At this same time, Hitler began his alarming rise in Germany. Cardinal Mundelein was of German ancestry and he wanted people to know he held Hitler in utter contempt In a speech in New York, Cardinal Mundelein compared Hitler, who fancied himself an artist, to a house painter or wallpaper hanger and not a very good one at that. Hitler was ridiculed in the international press after the speech. The story is told that Hitler vowed to get even with Cardinal Mundelein and sent agents to Chicago to see if they could uncover some scandal. The only irregularity they discovered was the will of Fr. Netstraeter which had never been executed. Supposedly, Hitler forced the relatives of Fr. Netstraeter who still lived in Germany to sue the Archdiocese in order to embarrass Cardinal Mundelein. Even the Vatican heard of the suit. Fortunately, the case was thrown out of court. Still, the Vatican told Cardinal Mundelein: "build the church." And so on the eve of World War II, the magnificent Church of St. Joseph was built and no expense was spared. It was dedicated by Cardinal Mundelein in late September of 1939. It was to be his last public appearance. The Cardinal died suddenly just a few days after the dedication.

"Go to the encounter with him in the Blessed Eucharist, go to adore him in the churches, kneeling before the Tabernacle: Jesus will fill you with his love and will reveal to you the thoughts of his Heart. If you listen to him, you will feel ever more deeply the joy of belonging to his Mystical Body, the Church, which is the family of his disciples held close by the bond of unity and love."
- Pope Benedict, Message to Dutch Youth

Dan: A perpetual choirmember, seek him where good music or custard are to be found. Contact him at basilique(at)gmail(dot)com

Emily: A graduate of Notre Dame's Philosophy and Latin programs, religious ed expert and Alto at large, she can be reached at emilynd06(at)gmail(dot)com

Matt: A graduate of ND's Architecture School, illustrator, church furnishing designer, and founder of Matthew Alderman Studios, doing entirely too many things at the same time in jolly old New England. Reach him at malderman83(at)gmail(dot)com

Drew: A lover of Jackie Chan and Cuckoo Clocks, he be can contacted at andrew_na(at)hotmail(dot)com

Becket: This Whapster Emeritus and longtime admirer of the Holy Father is enjoying his retirement on the shores of the Missisippi.

Vanitas Vanitatum:

"Cardinal, we're students at the University of Notre Dame in the United States..."
"Ah! Notre Dame!"~Benedict XVI (really)

"The Shrine of the Holy Whapping should be a part of every Christian's daily reading and meditation. Every time you load the page, you find something very much worth thinking about."~Fr. Jim Tucker

Even Weirder

St. Dymphna, protectress of lunatics, pray for us!
"Christianity, and nothing
else is the ultimate foundation
of liberty, conscience,
human rights, and democracy...
We continue to nourish
ourselves from this source.
Everything else is
postmodern chatter."
- Jürgen Habermas

"We desire that this practice... of using distinctive names by which Catholics are marked off from other Catholics, should cease; such names must be avoided... [they] are neither true nor just... they lead to great disturbance and confuse the Catholic body."
- Benedict XV, Ad Beatissimi Apostolorum